At the heart of STAR-Ghana Foundation’s Security in Northern Ghana (SING III) Project is a powerful recognition: sustainable peace cannot exist without social inclusion. The project’s focus on empowering the marginalized—particularly ethnic minorities like the Fulbe, women, youth, and persons with disabilities—has become a defining cornerstone of resilience-building in vulnerable communities. Through its local partners—SAVE Ghana, Young Peace Ambassadors, Belim Wusa Development Agency (BEWDA), Peace for Life Ghana, and Social Initiative for Literacy and Development Programme (SILDEP)—the SING III Project is transforming exclusion into empowerment across Northern Ghana.

For decades, the Fulbe people have lived on the peripheries of northern Ghanaian society—geographically and socially. Often stereotyped, excluded from community decisions, and misunderstood, they were historically isolated and vulnerable to manipulation by violent extremist groups.

Under SING III, each implementing partner has undertaken deliberate steps to change this narrative.

SILDEP has been at the forefront of community dialogue sessions in Sissala East and West, sensitizing communities on the cultural uniqueness of the Fulbe. “It’s when people feel left out that they can be used to hurt a community,” says Anthionette Kuukye, SILDEP’s Project Officer. These sessions helped demystify Fulbe cultural practices like cattle herding and tackled deep-seated stereotypes. Today, Fulbe voices are heard in town hall meetings, and some even serve on community development committees.

In SAVE Ghana’s zone of operation, Fulbe women and youth, who once refrained from communal events, are now engaging in peace forums and radio discussions. “The Fulbe now feel like true members of the community,” reports a Community Antiviolence Response Team (CART) member in the Sissala West District.

At BEWDA, inclusion efforts focused on the Pusiga border areas where Fulbe communities often faced suspicion. Inter-community meetings and storytelling forums enabled mutual understanding. As one Fulbe elder noted: “Now, when we enter the market, we are no longer treated like strangers.”

Women at the Table

In Northern Ghana’s traditionally patriarchal societies, women’s voices in governance and security have often been muted. The SING III Project recognized that real peace must include the perspectives of women—not as passive recipients, but as active contributors.

Through Peace for Life Ghana in the Saboba District, women have been empowered to engage in early warning and response systems. Previously absent from community decision-making, they now play roles in tracking signs of conflict and raising alerts. “Before, women only observed. Now, we speak,” shared a participant at a women-led peace circle.

SILDEP’s intervention saw a transformation in gender dynamics. “Before this project, women couldn’t even sit with their husbands to discuss community issues,” said Samari Zanabu, a beneficiary. “Now we sit side-by-side to decide what’s best for all of us.”

Young Peace Ambassadors in Bunkpurugu brought together young women across religious and ethnic divides to form peace clubs. Through sports and drama, these clubs provided safe spaces for women to tell their stories and claim their roles as influencers of change.

 From Invisibility to Influence

Persons with disabilities (PWDs) often experience layered exclusion in conflict-prone regions—isolated not just by disability but also by structural and attitudinal barriers.

In Bunkpurugu, Young Peace Ambassadors worked intentionally with the Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations to include PWDs in their dialogues on conflict prevention and social cohesion. Some of these individuals now serve as peer educators and community peace ambassadors. Their testimonies reveal a growing sense of agency and respect.

“I was only called for handouts, not for my ideas,” said one young man with a hearing impairment. “But through the project, I’ve been trained and now I train others. That’s power.”

The role of youth in peacebuilding cannot be overstated—nor can their risk of radicalization if excluded. Recognizing this, SING III partners embedded youth voices across all levels of intervention.

BEWDA and SAVE Ghana established Community Antiviolence Response Teams (CARTs), training youth volunteers to serve as early warning agents. These teams, including Fulbe and non-Fulbe youth, received training from the Police, Immigration, and the National Investigation Bureau, and have successfully thwarted criminal activity in areas like Kasana and Pusiga.

Young Peace Ambassadors creatively engaged youth through peace clubs in schools, using music, storytelling, and radio to promote social cohesion. These platforms helped deconstruct biases and build bridges across tribal and religious lines.

 Social Inclusion as Conflict Prevention

Across all five organizations, social inclusion has become a tool of prevention as much as transformation. Whether it’s the integration of Fulbe pastoralists, the empowerment of women, the visibility of PWDs, or the activation of youth, the SING III Project has proven that inclusive communities are safer, more cohesive, and more resilient.

As one Fulbe leader, Dicko Sulleimani, aptly stated:
“Now, we understand each other. Our children are playing together. Our wives visit each other. When you know someone, you cannot be used to harm them.”

Social inclusion under the SING III Project is not an afterthought—it is the foundation upon which trust is built, and peace is sustained. By recognizing the dignity and potential of every community member, the project has sown seeds of harmony that will outlive its own cycle.

The road ahead may be long, but as communities once divided by fear begin to unite through dialogue, understanding, and shared identity, hope has become a permanent resident in Northern Ghana.